The Brinkster - Another Worcester Park Blog

Thursday, 4 September 2014

On my daily walk from Brinkster Central down Central Road to the station yesterday morning I found this box and pile of clothes strewn around the pavement. I don't know if this was a charity donation that had been hijacked by someone or was just dumped there though my feeling is that it's more likely to be the former (if people want to dump their rubbish experience suggests that they do at the top of Washington Road). Either way it's fairly depressing but I was cheered by the knowledge that the LB Sutton street cleaner makes his way down Central Road at roughly the same time that I do so was confident that it would soon be taken care of.

Is it me or does the problem of dumping seem to be getting worse? If you've seen anything dumped tweet me a pic to @brinkleyroad with with the hashtag #dumpedstuff

Tuesday, 2 September 2014

Unfortunately it looks as though Kingfish has felt the impact of the financial downturn and competition on Central Road as there are notices in the windows to say that the property has been repossessed. According to the notes in the window the landlord had his bailiffs enter the property yesterday and secure it so it really does look like it's all over for Kingfish.

With Nefi's across the road open longer hours plus all of the other restaurants and take-aways in Worcester Park it probably was going to be a challenge to maintain a restaurant that only provided a conventional fish and chip menu but Kingfish has been more than just a restaurant to Worcester Park in that it's pretty much the first thing you see on Central Road when you come under the bridge due to its prominent location and obvious signage.

I'm definitely sad as it's been a regular spot for me when I've been on the way home late from the station or when Brinkster Minor was on the way back from football practice so he'll also be upset that it's gone.

Let's hope that we get something good there quickly as it's such a prime spot.

Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Last night was the opening night of Kate Bush's long awaited return to the stage with a 22 night run of shows in London under the banner of "Before The Dawn". The UK news outlets have been falling over themselves to provide previews, reviews and opinion in the run up to the event and they'd even made big news of her requests for the audience not to take photos during the show. If you are going to one of the shows then I'd strongly suggest that you stop reading now as everything from here onwards is going to be full of spoilers and, believe me, that will detract from the occasion. If, however, you're one of the several billion people in the world who didn't get tickets for the show and want to know what happened and what I thought of it then read on.

Arriving at the venue the sense of anticipation and excitement was immense as it was such a unique experience to be present at the first night of her return to the stage in 35 years. A mass of TV crews were interviewing people as they went in, and some were still there when we came out to get first reactions. Due to the tight ticketing controls touts were conspicuous by their absence which is something that I was pleased to see.

Inside the venue there was a buzz of anticipation building towards showtime and when the house lights finally darkened and the voiceover to "Lily" began there was a huge roar which only increased in volume when a barefoot Kate Bush made her way onto the stage. The set began with what most people would consider a conventional opening to the show as they moved from "Lily" into "Hounds of Love" followed by a mellow rendition of "Joanni", a rapturously received "Running Up That Hill" then "Top of the City" and "King of the Mountain". Her every move was cheered and clapped as the fans lapped up the tight delivery from both singer and band. Then it all kicked up several gears as she revealed her love for mixing music and theatre with a complete performance of "The Ninth Wave" accompanied by impressive staging, amazing lighting and even a simulated rescue helicopter descending from the ceiling with some surround sound effects thrown in to finish the first half. That whole section was very evocative and moving and I have to say that my eyes moistened at points as the combination of music and drama hit home.

After the interval Kate went through a complete performance of "A Sky of Honey" from "Aerials" in front of a whole new staging with more impressive lighting and projection of sky scenes, woods and birds in flight. Once
that reached its surprising and spectacular climax it was encore time with Kate sat at the piano for "Among Angels" with the band rejoining her to close with "Cloudbusting".

The first half became a giddy and immersive experience like nothing I've ever known at a gig before and the delivery of "The Ninth Wave" was so spot on that it couldn't be faulted. A couple of songs into the show Kate had stopped for a moment to thank her son Bertie, who was also on stage, and the lighting designer Mark Henderson and during "Ninth Wave" it became entirely clear why Mark was so important as his impressive contribution completed Kate's musical vision to produce a breathtaking piece which I won't forget.

The second half was a more measured affair and "A Sky of Honey" is a much more mellow piece and while "Ninth Wave" had grabbed the audience and propelled them through the experience "Honey" was much more of an
invitation to follow Kate into the world that she'd created, again with impressive staging and lighting plus an enormous painters canvas on stage which changed to follow the changing stage backdrop under the painter's
guidance while the main character was a wooden puppet propelled around stage by a man in black. If you know "A Sky of Honey" you'll know what it's like and it might not have been everybody's first choice for a show piece but it reached a massive climax with the wooden puppet casting off its puppeteer and making its own way around the stage finishing with Kate being transformed into a black bird and lifted into the air to the collective gasps of the audience. Another brilliant moment.

Her encore of "Among Angels" from "50 Words For Snow" was sensitively delivered and after an oblique intro the crowd went insane when it resolved itself into "Cloudbusting".

Interestingly for me the public request to refrain from taking photos was widely kept and much of the set was played to a silent and spellbound audience who were entirely capable of being vocal and loud when the opportunity presented itself. It was a massive contrast to some of the chatty audiences I've seen of late and an indicator of just how engaged everyone was in the experience.

It's almost impossible to pull off a perfect show and this one's no exception so while the first half was as close to perfection as you're ever likely to get the second half seemed slow at points and I was left wondering whether the two theatrical pieces would have been better off the other way round as "Ninth Wave" seemed so much stronger. Also a number of big songs were missing with no "Wuthering Heights", "Babooshka" or "The Man With The Child In His Eyes" and after she closed with "Cloudbusting" there was audible disappointment
from the audience around me though it was hard to gauge whether that was just because the show was over or partly because of those missing hits. Perhaps she wanted to not rely on the old classics by presenting material for the more dedicated fans or maybe she felt her voice couldn't do them justice as I thought that her voice did weaken in "Among Angels" and at a couple of other points though it was utterly flawless the rest of the time.

Those niggles aside it was an utterly memorable night and the faithful from the church of St Kate will be thoroughly reinforced in their devotion. While it came up a little short of perfection for me I have to say that I'd go back every night if I had the choice. It's that good.

Setlist:
Lily
Hounds of Love
Joanni
Running Up That Hill
Top of the City
King of the Mountain

[The Ninth Wave]
And Dream of Sheep
Under Ice
Waking the Witch
Watching You Without Me
Jig of Life
Hello Earth
The Morning Fog

Friday, 22 August 2014

On my way to the station yesterday morning my attention was drawn from my Kate Bush playlist (I have tickets for opening night on Tuesday! Oh yes!!!) to the railway bridge at Worcester Park station. Wait? Didn't it used to be covered in graffiti and crap or am I just imagining that? Maybe they did it months ago and I've only just noticed!

Apparently not. As the Sutton Guardian proudly trumpeted later in the day Network Rail has taken advantage of the roadworks disruption to paint the bridge an approved shade of regulation grey. Whether this is a demonstrable example of where our increased train fares go or a subtle attempt at government sponsored mind control wasn't mentioned. If it enhances the pervasive sense of calm around Worcester Park station then we'll know it's the latter.

In other news partner blog Richmond Transits reported on some eye-watering behaviour from their local Papa Johns

We witnessed a pretty shocking behaviour from pizza delivery firm Papa John today. After one of its delivery man was knocked off, it sent another employee to collect its pizza's, leaving his colleague behind as he was being attended by three ambulance crew.

Grammatical error aside I'd be pretty miffed if I was the injured delivery driver left at the side of the road by a company prioritising product over people, although on reflection I would rather be treated and comforted by three trained medical professionals than one of my colleagues. I'd be interested whether that would be the case if the accident happened in Worcester Park...

Wednesday, 20 August 2014

Walking to the station this morning I found that there's a piece of unloved exercise equipment been dumped at the top of Brinkley Road that wasn't there when I came home last night. It's sadly unloved and in a poor and dusty condition so even if you were looking for a piece of rejected exercise equipment to adopt and call your very own I wouldn't recommend this one...

It makes a change from the metal bath tub that was left on the other side of the road not too long back and if the bin men don't take it today then hopefully the scrap vans circling the neighbourhood will scoop it up at some point soon.

Seriously folks it's not that difficult to take stuff to the Recylcing Centre at Kimpton Way and they even have a webcam so you can see how busy it is before you gohttps://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=698
Of course your every move is probably being watched and the helpful employees of the recycling centre may be silently judging you based on the quality of your refuse but I couldn't possibly comment...

Tuesday, 19 August 2014

Wow! That has to rate as one of the least successful attempts to resurrect a blog known to mankind, and it was all going so well up until then!

By way of explanation when it all went silent I was heading to and fro to the Royal Marsden in Sutton for tests on a lump in my back over a period of weeks. Happily that all turned out to be fine but then I was almost immediately got taken out by a virus for a month. Once recovered I set about a mass of DIY and then rehearsing a band for a gig which took up all of my time though once that was I done I picked up another virus for a few weeks which was then followed by a kidney infection that took nearly a month to sort out! Plus I watched some football as there seemed to be lots of it on the TV for some reason. With all my blogging intentions now shattered like old plates in a Greek restaurant it's been difficult to know how to start back but here goes!

Among the exciting things I've let pass without comment are the new bridge at the station, the roadworks currently causing intermittent frustration and, well, everything else that's happened. I did intend to start writing more recently then this and attended a local fair with a camera and good intentions but one contributor's painful rendition of "Waltzing Matilda" left me so emotionally scarred I couldn't find it in myself to refer to the event as to do so would necessitate mention of said awkward incident. But now I have. Damn.

As well as keeping the NHS busy I've managed to play and listen to an awful lot of music, take thousands of photos and lots of legally prescribed tablets, and attend a fair selection of gigs (can you name the band?).

So anyway, I'm writing this from inside a Central London Costa on a cloudy summer lunchtime and while I still live in Worcester Park I find these days I'm less intrigued by your summer/winter fair or lost cat than I am about how you feel about them. I mean, everybody's got a story in them so I'm hoping to find some more interesting stories and situations to recount. I'm just hoping it's not more than six months until my next post tho... I'm not sure my kidneys could cope...

Tuesday, 4 February 2014

Sorry for the desperately unimaginative title but I was just browsing the Sutton Guardian web site and I noticed that 10th in the "most read" column was that two Worcester Park eateries had been "named and shamed" for garnering a massive zero stars between them in the latest food hygeine results. The two in question are the Turkish Sheesh Mangal and the now-(in)famous Ryan Gate, both in Central Road.

Obviously these inspections were carried out a while ago so hopefully things have improved since then and if you have any observations to offer then do feel free.

If you're ever strolling the streets of Worcester Park, or further afield, and spy a restaurant that takes your fancy but don't know whether to trust it then the Food Standards Agency has an app you can download for your Android or Apple smartphone so that you may be more confident that you won't be spending the night regretting your choice.

As for me I'll probably be in the Sunshine Cafe with their 5 star rating!

Wednesday, 22 January 2014

After a long day's work on Friday I was heading back up to London in the evening to see a friend's band playing and was idling away a few minutes at Worcester Park station when while waiting for the train I noticed the sign shown left on the London-bound platform. Rather than being in "full commuter mode", namely keenly focused on reaching my designated spot on the platform with the sole aim of claiming the best available seat, I ambled casually around the station like a relaxed tourist and my eyes alighted on the local area map.

It is, as you can clearly see, a map and it is, as is also obvious, a local map.... just not of Worcester Park.
For some reason South West Trains have decided to give us a map of New Malden to look at while we're waiting for our trains so if you had arrived at the station from afar and were wanting to find the tourist mecca that is Brinkley Road on it you would probably be both confused and sorely disappointed. I could speculate wildly as to why they've done that but I'll let you do that instead.